


Five Minutes

by Girl_in_Japan



Series: The Blonde Barista Series [3]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 17:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6161183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girl_in_Japan/pseuds/Girl_in_Japan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On Wednesday, Mamoru "stole" Usagi's cellphone number. On Friday, Usagi hung up on Mamoru and then called back to yell at him some more. Now it's Saturday and Mamoru has arrived at Usagi's place of work to see her. Will things go south as quickly as their first meeting? Or could there be more than just coffee in their future?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Minutes

Last night’s talk with Usagi would forever go down in Mamoru’s memory as the strangest phone call he would ever make.

He hadn’t really known what to expect when he had called her. Sure, he had known it wouldn’t be all sunshine and daisies after their less than amicable encounter on Wednesday. But he certainly hadn’t expected the barrage of emotions Usagi had flung at him in the five minute, two part phone conversation they had shared. She had accepted his call, started yelling at him in midsentence, hung up, called back, hounded him… And then when he had finally convinced her to let him speak, she had, for some reason, agreed to let him visit her at work the next day.

Mamoru hadn’t believed his luck.

And quite truthfully, he still didn’t believe it now that he was standing outside the café.

In the three and a half years Mamoru had been at university, no girl had ever caught his attention in the way Usagi had. Sure, he had found plenty of girls in his classes and around campus attractive but his studies had always been more important and he had never pursued any of them. With Usagi though… The way she had smiled at him and fumbled her way through placing his order had been replaying in his mind since it had happened. Hell, even the memory of their stand-off over his coffee cup with her number on it was enough to make him smile. He had known he was going to call her as soon as he had realized what was on that cup. It had just taken him some time to work up the nerve to do it. He was glad he had.

Letting out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding, Mamoru pushed open the café door and stepped inside. This was the first time he had been in the shop on a Saturday. The difference between now and his usual Wednesday afternoons was shocking. The weekday tended to bring in a quiet, smaller, study-oriented crowd. The café now was crowded with people trying to be heard over everyone else. It was like a different place entirely.

Still, Mamoru wasn’t here for the ambiance. He glanced towards the counter and smiled, seeing Usagi’s blonde head bobbing up and down as she hurried from the cash register to the coffee machines behind her and back. 

She was making drinks now. God help them all. 

At least that probably meant she was doing better with the cash register now though.

He stepped into line, trying to decide what he would say to her when it was his turn to order. He could ask how she was getting used to her job… But that seemed too casual. What she was studying? Too average. 

Ahead of him, Usagi apologized profusely to the customer she was waiting on and then proceeded to pound on the keyboard, trying to undo whatever mistake she had made. Mamoru smirked. Maybe the right question was why she had decided to work in a café when she couldn’t even take an order correctly.

No wonder she had yelled at him on the phone.

Once the student in front of him had paid for her caramel mocha latte—not the caramel chai latte Usagi had accidentally tried to charge her for—and slunk off to wait for it at the pick-up counter, Mamoru found himself face to face with the blonde barista that had been occupying his thoughts for the past three days. At least he had had time to prepare himself. 

Usagi seemed caught off guard by his appearance, her eyes wide. She clearly hadn’t noticed him in line until now.

“Mamoru!” 

A thousand possible things to say churned through his mind.

“So you’re making drinks now.”

He smiled, silently congratulating himself for coming up with a conversation starter that she couldn’t possibly find offensive.

He was rewarded with a smile in return that made his heart flip flop.

She looked rather proud of herself. “Yeah. I mean, I’m still working the register so I can only serve the premade coffee and stuff that only takes a second to prepare. But I’m actually serving something now!”

He was happy for her. And now that they weren’t bickering, talking to her felt natural. Mamoru guessed that had more to do with her than him though. He was not a natural conversationalist. Outside of talking with friends and colleagues, he tended to avoid conversing with people any more than he had to. Usagi on the other hand, was clearly the type of person who was at her best in social situations. This might have only been the third time they had talked but something about her bright, friendly attitude made Mamoru feel like they had known each other for years.

It was probably that feeling that pushed Mamoru to bypass his automatic order of black coffee and ask, “What do you recommend?” The black coffee would have been fine with him—it always was—but he wanted something that would give him more time to talk with her. After all, that was the real reason why he was here.

Usagi paused, caught off guard by his question. “Uh… The lavender chai’s really good if you want fancy tea. Or there’s a seasonal berry tart if you’re looking for something to eat. And our special today is an Americano with a shot of chestnut syrup,” A small look of satisfaction crossed her lips as she added, “The syrup’s just in a pump so even I can make that one,”

It was a simple choice. “I’ll take that,” Generally, the idea of adding a sugary syrup to coffee would have made Mamoru cringe but he liked the idea of having something she had made for him. Maybe he could drown the flavor with milk.

Usagi grinned. “Got it! Give me two seconds,” 

Her golden pigtails spun around her as she turned to the coffee maker and started putting together his order. 

Mamoru leaned against the counter, watching her work. She moved with the almost ease of an almost practiced hand. She was getting used to her work but it was still a challenge. Even from the back, he could see the determination and focus that was going into every move she made. She didn’t want to mess this up. That much was clear. However, he wasn’t entirely sure if that was for his benefit or her job’s. Granted, he supposed it didn’t really matter in the end. He would just be happy to have a palatable drink.

A minute later, Usagi turned back to the register, his drink in her hand. 

“Done,” She placed the paper cup on the counter in front of him. “And don’t even bother checking the bottom or the sides. You didn’t get a picture today. And I’m not giving you my number again.”

He grinned at her. “I don’t need your number again. I saved it in my phone,”

Mamoru didn’t have to see the look of surprise on her face to regret what he had just admitted to. She hadn’t needed to know that. So what if he had entered her number in his phone book as soon as he had gotten home that day? He hadn’t wanted to lose it in the time it took him to call her. That was all. But he had slipped up and now she probably thought he was desperate. 

Sadly, there was no way to take words back once they were said. His smile never wavered as he hoped for the best.

“Well…” Usagi was obviously struggling to come up with a response to his unwitting confession. “I saved your number in my phone, too.”

For a split second Usagi looked pleased with herself until she, just like he had a moment earlier, realized what she had said.

Mamoru’s grin grew. Suddenly, his faux pas didn’t seem so horrible after all. “Is that so?” He liked the idea of his name and number in her phone. It made his indescribable attraction to her feel more legitimate.

She couldn’t back down now.

“Of course!” Usagi was squirming. Her lips were pursed together in the most adorable look of determined desperation as she back-peddled as quickly as she could. Mamoru was enjoying every minute of it.

“Just so that I can… call the cops with the right information if you turn out to be a stalker. I mean, you already stole my number once and now you’re telling me you saved it on your phone. I think I made the right choice!”

Him? A stalker? Part of him wanted to laugh. Another part of him vaguely wondered if there was some merit to her words. Either way, he nodded, pretending to empathize with her completely. 

“Safety first, huh?”

“Safety first,” she agreed. 

She pushed the coffee towards him. 

“It’s three hundred fifty yen.”

Mamoru would have paid a lot more than that to keep talking to her. He wanted to reach out and run his hand through those long pigtails of hers that swung around her as she moved. He wanted to hold her hand in his and tell her how happy he had been when she had agreed to see him one more time. She could call his number anytime she wanted just as long as he could call hers too. He wanted to see her smile and hear her laugh. But more than anything else, he never wanted to walk away from the counter where they were standing right now.

Unfortunately, her words had pulled him back to reality. Just like that, he was acutely aware of the growing line behind him and the fact that she was at work. He didn’t want to get her in trouble by taking up her time. Yes, she had agreed to see him at the coffee shop but he sternly reminded himself that didn’t mean she actually wanted to spend time with him. What if she had just been being polite? It wasn’t like she could actually stop him from coming in to buy a coffee. 

Hardening himself to the fact that they were done talking, Mamoru passed the money to her. 

“Well, good luck with your job.” 

He gave Usagi a final nod and turned back towards the exit, accepting the regret-filled drop of his stomach as unavoidable.But there was nothing else for him to do. They were done here.

He longed to scout out an open seat somewhere in the café just to be near her and her smile a little longer but he didn’t want to be a nuisance. Maybe he’d just make it a habit to stop in at the café each Saturday now. He could talk with her while she made whatever concoction was on the menu that day and then he’d let her get back to her work. He didn’t want her thinking that he was taking advantage of her being trapped behind the counter. For all he knew, she really had saved his number in her phone to show to the cops if he crossed some invisible, stalking line. He doubted it. But there was always the possibility.

Mamoru hadn’t gotten any more than a step away from the counter though when a sharp, high pitched voice called him back.

“Hey! You’re just going to leave?”

Surprised, he paused and looked back at Usagi. “I got my coffee…” It felt like a dumb thing to say but he couldn’t think of anything else in that moment.

They stared at each other, identical looks of confusion on their faces. Had she been expecting more? A face to face apology for the way he had acted on Wednesday? The cup with her number returned? (He did still have the cup. It was sitting innocently by his kitchen sink, the supposed rabbit drawing displayed prominently.) Mamoru didn’t allow himself to imagine that it could be anything more than that. 

Finally, Usagi broke the silence. “But you’re the one who asked if you could come see me!”

Was that… disappointment he heard in her tone? His heart beat faster in anticipation but he pushed the feeling down. He had to be imagining things.

There was no way. Hadn’t she just accused him of being a potential stalker?

“And I’m off on break in five minutes!” 

He couldn’t believe it. “You want me to stay?”

She shrugged, exasperated. “I don’t know! I guess! I mean, you said you were coming to see me but now you’re leaving with your coffee…”She looked at him, clearly searching for some sort of explanation for his actions.

He caught her gaze as his mind whirled, urgently trying to put that explanation together for her. 

“I’ll, uh, find a seat then.” 

A look of relief spread across her features. “Oh, good. Five minutes, okay?” She smiled that gorgeous smile that made his heart skip a beat.

Mamoru suddenly felt lighter than he had all day. She wasn’t just being polite. Her request—as confused as it might have been—had been genuine. 

He nodded and smiled back at her. “Five minutes. I’ll be waiting.”

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it for the Blonde Barista Series! I hope you enjoyed it! It was definitely fun to write! Thanks for reading!


End file.
